A Month in Costa Rica, May 2012

Part 1 - Teaching | Part 2 - Coffee Farm | Part 3 - Puerto Viejo | Part 4 - Final Thoughts
This series of stories is not only a way for me to archive my personal travels but also a way for me to share my experience with the Steemit Community to enjoy. Many people think travelling is fun, easy and relaxing, which it is! But there are many unexpected difficulties as well and I hope to show both sides of my trips

If you like my stories, please like, comment or follow me @chuazm!

Random Stories

The following posts are to write about the random adventures I went on in Costa Rica during the weekends while I was still teaching in San Jose or planting coffee in Monteverde. I thought I could fit them all in one post, but it would be too long, so I'll be splitting in to another Part 4 or maybe Part 5. Hope you enjoy!

Puerto Viejo (translation: Old Port)

Footprints in the sand - cliched I know

Some of the other volunteers in Maximo Nivel and I decided to take a weekend trip to Puerto Viejo for the weekend. One of the volunteers has been there for months and she recommended this beach because it's not as commercialized as the other beaches but a million times more beautiful.

Our journey started very early in the morning with a 4 hour bus ride. Our adventure started in the bus station itself! After we bought the bus tickets and boarded the bus, we learnt that the bus company overbooked the bus and we had to stand for the entire 4 hour journey. My friends and I were standing by the door at the back of the bus. Just as the bus hit the highway, the back door swung open and my friend and half our bags fell out of the moving bus. Fortunately, I managed to grab my friend before she fell out of the moving bus. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip.

Waking up early and having to stand 4 hours in the bus was definitely not a fun experience. But I met a really beautiful girl on the bus and we ended up talking the entire trip to the beach. She's a Hungarian that has been travelling around the world for the past 2 years learning yoga. We talked about travelling, about Hungary, about Malaysia, about Costa Rica etc. The 4 hours flew by so fast. She was a big part of my memory from this weekend (Sorry no pictures!).

As soon as we got to Puerto Viejo, they weren't kidding when they said it's a place untouched by many tourist. It was a very small town barely touched by development. Being the adventurers that we were, of course we had to find the hostel furthest from the town. It was owned by two Americans who have been in Costa Rica for years. The Hungarian girl, having traveled alone asked to join me, and I invited her to join our group.

Knowing I was on a budget. I chose the cheapest option which was to sleep in a tent for USD 3 instead of the dormitory which cost USD 5. The tent could hardly fit my whole body and the zippers weren't even working. So I got a whopping 33% discount - USD 2!! What a steal

By the time we settled in, it was already getting dark. The owners suddenly invited all of us to the back of the hostel to smoke some what I assumed is weed? I wasn't sure because I've not smoked it before then. We rolled, smoked, talked, laughed before the Hungarian girl and I decide to head into town for food and drinks. By the end of the night, the whole group ended up in a dance bar. If any of you knew me back then, I was quite the awkward person and can't dance to save my life.

As soon as I entered the bar, I headed straight to the bar for drinks. The Hungarian girl hung around for awhile, insisting I just join her for a dance but I refused. After an hour of waiting, even she ditched me. In that hour alone, I easily had 10 random guys coming up to me - "Ganja? Cocana? Very cheap?". After which I was pretty hammered and decided to walk back to the hostel alone. At least another volunteer was happy, having disappeared for awhile and coming back with knee covered in sand ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

That was the last time I saw the Hungarian girl. It only took me ONE WEEK, when I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night thinking - "WAIT! WAS SHE HITTING ON ME?!".

Morning started really early with screaming and shouting in the dormitory which was right next to my tent. Apparently, someone came into the dormitory and stole EVERYONE'S valuables. I was the first suspect because strangely enough, none of my things were stolen despite my phone, wallet and some cash were sprawled all over the tent floor being completely viewable. But I had everything searched and nothing was found so I was let go. I'm pretty sure the thief thought that anyone poor enough to sleep out in the cold in a tent isn't worth robbing.

For anyone who has never stayed in a backpacker hostel or dormitory before. Word of advice from my experience, DO NOT TRUST ANYONE. Don't get me wrong, backpacker hostels are really fun, I still stay in them eventhough I can afford to stay in hotels now. But these people are still complete strangers. If possible, do not stay in a hostel that does not provide lockers.

We never solved the mystery, but we weren't going to let that dampen our mood! So we rented some bicycles and started our day of discovery and adventure. There isn't much to say, so I'll just let the pictures talk about it.

We met some locals and they brought us to some secret beach where we would have the beach all to ourselves. It was quite a climb to get there. After all that, we went back in the evening and boarded the night bus back to San Jose.

This story ended WAYYYY longer than I thought it would. I think I'll need another 1 or 2 more posts to complete documenting my whole Costa Rica experience. Again, if you like my story, please check out my profile (@chuazm) for more! I would really appreciate some likes, comments or feedbacks. I'm very new here and would like some help and advice. Cheers!